At the moment we're getting the web store ready for you,
but once we get that done you'll be able to come here and put a face to the name of the person you deal with. We'll be posting up pictures of the shop, and some of our travels.
Here's a brief intro to get started with. If you call or drop in, you'll speak with Francois, Chuck, or Megan.
Francois had the commute we all dream about. He rode the Dragon for many years, twice a day. He has literally ridden The Dragon
a few thousand times. What for some is known as "318 turns in 11 Miles" is actually over half a million turns to him. He used to manage Sport Touring Accessories at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort.
While it was a great place to work, the remote location didn't have access to high speed Internet, and reliable telephone service was almost non existent. Of the 4 major carriers that provide delivery service in the US, only two serviced that area. Realizing that these limitations weren't conducive to expanding a business, he quit and started up Dual Sport Touring in Friendsville, TN. With 5 times the physical space,
high speed internet, and UPS pickup multiple times a day, it would be an understatement to say that he is much happier here and can better serve his customers. Francois holds
the title of "Guy in Charge". He's been riding for over 30 years, and has ridden in everything from snow storms to hurricanes, from desert to flooded roads. Every now and then Francois will take off for a
"little trip", like riding from East TN to CO to ride around for a couple of days with his friend Ralph, then ride back home. This partly explains why his 2002 VFR has over 62,000 miles on it, and his DR650 has over 40,000.
He owns a car, which will be a surprise to most people who know him, but for the most part uses a bike as his primary transportation.
Megan has a full time job somewhere else, and in her free time works here, which means she actually doesn't have any free time. This has earned her the title of "Runs with
Scissors". She raced in WERA South East region for a few years, running a Yamaha Seca 600 in Vintage 7, Clubman, D SuperStock and D Superbike classes, then ran a Suzuki SV650 in Lightweight Twins, D Superstock
and D Superbike. When she lived in Atlanta, Megan's sole transportation for many years was a Honda CBR 929. She can speak with authority on the intricacies of strapping your cat carrier to the Ventura rack on the back of a 929. How many people do you know have 60,000 miles on a CBR? Heck, she's ridden it from Toronto to Atlanta, in one day .
Megan worked at BMW of Atlanta where she earned certification as a BMW Apparel Specialist and BMW Parts Manager, two skills we truly appreciate here at Dual Sport
Touring. She knows more about riding gear than anyone I know. Megan met Francois while he was still at Deal's Gap, and then one day they met for lunch at Two Wheels Only, a very long lunch which turned into dinner
and they discovered they both wanted the same things out of life. A short while later Francois offered her instant poverty, a small house in the mountains, and a 10% discount on bike parts. (He knew it was true love when
she agreed, despite the fact she was getting a better deal on parts before). They got married in March of 2008, at a local motorcycle hang out called the Time Warp Tea Room. Both the bride and groom, as well as several friends, rode to the wedding on their bikes.
Chuck moved to beautiful East Tennessee after visiting the area in the summer of 2004. Like most people who visit this area, he was drawn to the beauty of the area, and the best roads
in the US. While some people plan a year ahead of time to visit well known roads like The Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway, Chuck has them in his back yard now. Try not to hate him for it. When Chuck moved
down here a few years ago, he bought a Honda VFR and called up Francois to get a set of Heli-Bars installed. It turns out they had both lived in a lot of the same places, had a lot of the
same experiences, and enjoyed the same things. They developed a friendship that will last a lifetime. Chuck holds the title of "Guy on Fire". He's always busy, always working on something, and had a bike catch
on fire when he was 2500 miles from home on a 3 week vacation. The title started as a joke and kind of stuck. When most of us are getting up in the morning, Chuck has already ridden to the top of the nearest mountain
before sunrise. He loves to ride.
So you see the three of us actually ride. We aren't people who just work in a bike shop because it's a job. We do this because it's a passion for us. We love to ride, and we know about the products we carry. We didn't just pick them out of a
catalog. We use the stuff we sell. We've tested it, tried it, sometimes even evaluated it and helped develop it with the manufacturers. Heck, we've even crash tested some of this stuff! In the summer of 2007 Francois,
Megan, Chuck and their friend Kenneth rode their bikes from the Canadian border to Albuquerque, off road, following the Continental Divide Trail. We turned left at Albuquerque and rode cross the country back to east
Tennessee. 3 weeks, and 4500 miles after leaving, we got back home tired, worn out, extremely happy, and yearning to go ride again!